Competition Honors New York City Youth Who "Dare to Dream"

February 20, 2009

BrainstormUSA to Present Awards at Ceremony in the Bronx for Children’s Aid Society Winners

Three High School Students Win $5,000 Each

Contacts:
Ellen Lubell, The Children’s Aid Society – (w) 212-949-4938, (c) 917-854-6864
Emily Crossan, The Children’s Aid Society – (w) 917-286-1548, (c) 201-344-5742

When:
Monday, February 23, 2009
2:45 – 3:30 p.m.

Where:
TAPCO – Theater Arts Production Company Middle and High School, a Children’s Aid Society Community School
2225 Webster Avenue, The Bronx

What:
Twelve creative, highly motivated middle and high school students will be honored at a special ceremony in the Bronx in BrainstormUSA’s Dare to Dream…Expect to Succeed competition.

Craig Bunnell, Victor Cabrera and Marielle Rodriguez, all students at Children’s Aid Society community high schools, have each won a $5,000 college scholarship from BrainstormUSA, an Atlanta-based marketer of educational software, videos and computers.

To win, students are asked to describe a personal goal and how he or she hopes to achieve it. Any medium may be used – such as prose, poetry, photography, collage or drawing – depending on the child’s interest. In addition, parents are asked to describe how they will support their child’s efforts to realize his or her dreams.

Craig, an 11th grader at TAPCO in the Bronx, drew a poster depicting his dream of becoming a musician and artist; Victor, a 10th grader at TAPCO, created drawings demonstrating his desire to enter the field of graphic animation; and Marielle, an 11th grader at the Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics, created a video and brochure about her plan to become a sex therapist and relationship counselor.

Five other students will receive a personal computer and four more have been awarded bundles of educational software.

For more information about BrainstormUSA and the Dare to Dream…Expect to Succeed competition, please visit the company’s website at www.brainstormusa.com.

The Children’s Aid Society (www.childrensaidsociety.org) was founded in 1853. It is one of the nation’s largest and most innovative non-sectarian agencies, serving 150,000 of New York’s neediest children and their families with a network of services that includes community schools, neighborhood centers, camps, adoption and foster care services, arts programming, teen pregnancy prevention, education, health and recreation. The Children's Aid Society is a founding member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the vast majority of Children’s Aid sites are Boys & Girls Clubs. For more information, please call 212-949-4938 or email ellenl@childrensaidsociety.org.

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